Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis is under investigation for the acquisition of Victor Osimhen from Lille. The alleged crimes are false accounting and fraudulent statements. The fiscal police searched his companies’ headquarters in Rome and Castel Volturno yesterday, Ansa reports.
Alongside the chairman, also his wife Jacquelin Baudit and his children Edoardo and Valentina, who are board members, are being probed as well. The district attorney’s office is looking into three further unspecified transfers. The deal is already the subject of an inquiry of the juridictions interregionales specialisées in France in the last few months.
Osimhen officially joined Napoli in 2020 for €81M. However, the package included four fringe Azzurri players with bloated valuations. Only veteran goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis actually spent time at Lille. Youngsters Claudio Manzi, Ciro Palmieri and Luigi Liguori quickly headed back to Italy on loan, and eventually on free transfers, despite their €15M combined price tag.
The operation was part of the recent plusvalenze trial at the sports level. All executives were acquitted in two separate degrees of justice. Lawyer Eduardo Chiacchio commented to Radio Kiss Kiss (via Tuttomercatoweb).
“There already two sentences on the matter, and the club and De Laurentiis were found not guilty. I think the Partenopei do not risk anything on that front, unless something new comes up. The fans can be at ease in my opinion.”
The Osimhen move to Napoli grabbed headlines last year because the money cashed in by Lille have almost vanished, with only €10M still available, L’Equipe revealed (via Calcio e Finanza).